Police are appealing for witnesses to an incident in which a workman died after a road traffic collision in Forest Gate yesterday.

Officers were alerted at approximately 04.45am yesterday morning. A group of maintenance workers had arrived in Upton Lane at about 4.35am to begin work via a manhole cover in the road. Safety cones were in position and the workers were wearing high visibility jackets.

The deceased, aged 43, had positioned himself, lying in the road next to the manhole cover, when a vehicle collided with him and subsequently with the parked works van. A post mortem carried out at East Ham Mortuary today revealed he died from multiple injuries.

Police have informed his next of kin but are are waiting for formal identification before releasing his details.

The vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, then made off from the scene and was traced a short while later in Ham Park Road, Forest Gate at the junction with Warwick Road, also Forest Gate.

Detective Sergeant Abi Lambkin, from the Road Death Investigation Unit, who leads the investigation said: “Although this collision took place in the early hours of Thursday morning, I am appealing for anyone who was in the area and may have travelled past the scene, to contact us. I would also like to speak to anyone who witnessed the moments prior to the collision to come forward.”

Anyone who witnessed the collision, or the moments leading up to the collision, is urged to contact the Road Death Investigation Unit at Chadwell Heath on (020) 8597 4874.

A man who was arrested in connection with the incident, which happened in Upton Lane, near the junction with Upton Avenue, has since been charged.